Apparatus for continuously distilling crude oil and other substances.



C. B. FORWARD.

APPARATUS FOB. CONTINUOUSLY DISTILLING ORUDE OIL AND OTHER SUBSTANGES.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNI: 7, 191s.

l l Axs 2" .A E

Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

2 BHEETB-BHEBT 1.

C. B. FORWARD.

APPABA'IUS FOB CONTINUOUSLY DISTILLING GRUDE OIL AND OTHER SUBSTANCBS.

APPLIOATION A`ILBD JUNE 7,1913.

Patented Mar. 3, 1914.

2 SHEETB--SHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHAUNC EY B. FORWARD, OF URBANA, OHIO.

,t ,assuma Specification of Letters Patent.r

Patented Mar. 3,1914.

Application filed June 7, 1913. Serial No. 772,270.

To o// lr/mmI it may wat-em.'

`le it known that I, CHAUNonr B. FonwAnn, citizen ot the United States,residing at Urbana, in the county of Champaign and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain Vnew and usct'ul Improvements in Apparatus torlContinuously Distilling Crude Oil and other Substances, of which thefollowing is a specification,

My invention relates to an apparatus for continuously tractionalizingcrude oil and other substances, and the invention consists in the meanssi'ibstantially as hereinafter shown and described and more particularlypointed out in the claims.

'lln` primary object of the invention is to promote more or lessinstantaneous vaporization of the crude oil and a continuous :fractionalcondensation thereof so as to sep- :irate the liquids of diiferentgravities from eachr other, at the same time securing the asphalt base(which is the base or all mineral oils). By the term asphalt base I meana substance similar to the natural product but which would require afurther treatment to make it substantially identical with the naturalasphalt. This asphalt base can be secured in a liquid state,(corresponding with maltha), a se1nihard, or a hard state from the firstcondenser. For instance, if I wish to obtain a liquid asphalt hase amongother divisions of the original oil running at the same time, my firstcondenser would be larger than if I were seeking to obtain a hardasphalt base., In other words, if I wanted a hard asphalt base my firstcondenser would be small. In producing a semi-hard asphaltl base thesize of the first condenser would be between the small and largercondenser according to the degree of hardness I wished to obtain. Theasphalt base so obtained does not have the necessary adhesive andcohesive qualities to vmake itcolnmercially valuable without furthertreatment as described in my other application oi even date herewith,Serial No. 772,270. but by atomizing-"the crude oil and subjecting it toa forced travel through the retort `while exposing it to suitable hightemperatures I can reduce the oil to its asphalt base in a continuousmanner and trap ott' the base while simultaneously separating the othercomponent parts of the crude oil in a more rapid and economical mannerthan has been practicable heretofore, particularly with the use of onlya Vas a residue.

single retort. In soidoing I obtain pure distillates without arepetition of heatin op'- erations at different. temperatures in or erto remove the various grades of oil or distillates, or in otherwords'without following.

the common practice which consists in' subjecting the oil to a specifiedtemperature in a still until all the oil volatilizable at thatteniperature is relnoved, and then increasing the temperature of theremaining product in the still to a given or certain higher degrec oftemperature, and continuing it at that higher temperature until all thevolatilizable oil at the increased temperature is removed, and thenagain increasing the temperature and so on until only coke is left Inbrief, my invention is particularly dei signed to treat crude oil or theresiduum thereof to obtain the asphalt base (the base of all mineraloils) at the outset and pure gasolene at the finish with all theintermediate distillates Such as heavy and light paralins (or heavy andlight lubricating oils if the so-called asphalt base oils are beingtreated), kerosene, naphtha etc. T0 accomplish this result succcssfuilywith all the different kinds of crude'oil obtainable, requires aconvertible apparatus, and one of my objects is to provide a series ofsectional condensing 'chambers having sectional condensing elements andpipe connections adapting interchange and diierent working relationsbetween the parts so that the product from the retort may be variablyacted upon at di'erent points in the line of its discharge to produce avariety of similar distillates from different grades of oil or toproduce different varieties of distillates Afrom the same grade of oil.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 shows a sectional view of a retortand a side view of six sectional condenser columns connected in seriestherewith, and also an oil pump and air compressor.V Fig. 2 is a planview in section of the retort shown in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a sectionalview vertically of one of my improved condensers embodying two sectionsand the removable elements therein. Figs. 4 and 5 are perspective viewsof the two`disk-shaped elements forming the interior parts of eachcondenser. Figs. 6 and 7 are side views corresponding to Fig. 1 exceptfor a different working relation between the condenser parts. 4

The retort A as such is shown in Figs. l

`and 2 as consisting of a series of pipes- 2amranged in parallelrelation on a vsuccessively downward plane within a protecting 4jacket 3which may bev filled with vsuper-heated steam if desired. vPipes 2 maybe 22 feet in length, more or less, as the Workniay require and the endsthereof are united by suitable connections 4 located on the outside ofthe *retortf Removable plugs 5 in connections 4' permit cleaning of thepipes from the outside of the retort. The connections 4 unite pipes 2'so as to make a continuous coi-Leach pipe 2 being fully exposed to thesuperheated steam in the jacket 3 or other transmitting agent. Thejacket and not the pipes l `are directly exposed to the iiames from thegas burner B and heating of the oil is therefore uniform throughout thefull length of the p es 2. lIn lieu. of a single large jacket foral thepipes I may use a small jacket for each length of pipe. The crude oil ispumped into thev intake end 6 of the first pipe 2 of the coil by a pipe7 leading from oil pump- 8, andthis intake end is also connected to anair or steam supply tank or compressor 9 by a pipe 10. The flow ofliquid is continuous and under a sustained pressure of about fortypounds, and the air',

or steam from pipe l() is also continuously supplied at about the samepressure. A suitable nozzle 11 is used at the mouth or intake 6 tothoroughly atomize the oil as it is forced linto pipe 2. A temperatureof approximately six hundred and fifty degrees, Fahrenheit, is.constantly maintained in the pipe 2 as shown by a thermometer orpyrometer l2 at the front end ofthe retort.

' This temperature I Vhave foundto be entirely satisfactory for reducingthe atomized oil to avgaseouso'r vaporized state without undue coking.However, the asphalt which izing of the crude oil under pressure and'its forced passage through pipes 2 permits thev volatilization of thevarious grades of oils contained in the crude oil at one and the sametime, thus avoiding a repetition of separate vaporizing operations atdifferent temperatures as heretofore commonly prac tised. Thetemperature as given is not'to be construed as the only temperaturewhich can ybe used,` as different kinds of oils require somewhatdi'derent temperatures according to their qual-ity; but in everyinstance only a Asingle retort 'and` a constant- 'heat is lem- Vmorecondenser units 16, a scries'ofxsuch columns D to I being arranged 'atequal distances apart and-each column consisting of one or more of theunits 1 6 with a sectional pipe connection 17 extending from the topmember 18 of each column to the base member 15 of the next or succeedingcolumn, as D to E, etc. Each unit comprises l a metal pipe threaded atits ends to screwengage the lianges 19 and 20 of the base and topmembers15 and 18, respectively, or to screw engage the connecting band or ring21 which unites twovor more such unitsto provide a condenser of extendedlength and increased condensing surface and whlch sur- .face may be moreor less effectively utilized by superposing a greater or less number ofspreader elements 22 and 23 within the units from the base 15 upward.The said units or sections 16 are closedcircumferentially and opencircumferentially internally between the upper andylower edges thereofto permit a free upwardfflow of the uncondensed oils inthe condenser,Thus referring to Figs. 3',

I4 and 5, the spreader elements comprise disk-shaped plates 22 and 23,alternately placed in superposed relation, element 22 having lips orprojections 24 struck up radially of the body thereof .and bent at rightangles on both sides to provide supports therefor and for theotherelement 23 which is merely provided with a central opening 25. Thedisplacement of the lips 24 in the element 22 leaves radial openings inthe body thereof as seen`in Fig. 5, and therefore when the two diderentelements are superposed the vapors which pass upward have an indirecttravel through each column of unit or units. In Fig. 3, the spreaderelements are shown as completely filling the two units from top tobottom, but only the lower unit may-be filled or the number of elementsmay be varied to meet any given need in any single column. Thecondensation from each col` umn of units is discharged through a trap 26before being permitted to pass into a suitable vessel 27, and at thestai-t of operation the outlet side of the trap is closed by a valve 28until Asuiicient liquid is trapped to seal each take-oft' pipe andprevent the loss of vapors at this point. v All of the units 1 5 are oflike length-and diameter and the pipe connections 17 be-v tween theseparate column of condenser units have short sections of pipe 29 of thesame length as the units which are connected by union nuts 30. Theseconnections permit a continuous travel of' the vapors from one columnpofunits to the next until the last column, I is reached, where a like pipecon.

' nection l? leads to a worm condenser lJ of oil, whereas condensercolumns H and I regasolene is lbein handled. `The number of y vessel' e.

usual construction, which condenser J is only necessary when an oilcontaining the condensers may greater or less according to the sizeofithe retort, the grade of oil to be treated or the character of theseparations desired.` p

Now, referring to condenser column D (the first in the series), whe ythehot vapors reach this point only -th heaviest portions which condense ata high temperature are precipitated and deposited in the first vessel d,together with the asphalt base which has not been vaporized in theretort. This product in vessel d is the asphalt base and my aim is notto va orize thls part of the oil during its force passage through theretort but only to subJect it to such a temperature as will not causecoking. Obviously any. temperature sufiicient to vaporize the heaviestgrades of oil contained in any 'on all'of the crude oils will vaporizeall the ot er lighter component parts and the base eing drawn ofi'without having been subjected to a temperature sufficiently high to havecaused its coking, a great economy is effected. The vapors arlsing fromcondenser column D pass into the bottom of condenser column E and aso-called heavy parafin oil-is removed or separated at this point anddischarged into the second Such heavy paraflin oil is that constituentpart which, when still incor-l porated with the asphalt base is oftenreferred to as the reslduum of crude oil as commonly refined. Condensercolumn F of three 'units (Fig. 1) in turn separates the light paraffin,and condenser column G of six units removes a so-called intermediatemove kerosene and naphtha respectively. Condenser J may be used toreduce the final vapors to gasolene.

Now a practical apparatus to fractionally separate various grades ofoils in a continuous manner as described involves, first, the continuousfeed of oil in'a stream tothe retort, second, atomization of the oil inthe retort; third, the use .of compressed air or steam to promoteatomization and forced continuous movement ofthe oil through the retort;fourth, the exposure of atomized oil to a constant heat sufficient tovolatilize substantially every constituent part of the oil except thebase; fifth, the carrying forward of the vapors through separatecondenser columns under more or less sustained pressure to producecontinuous fractional condensation, and sixth, the use of convertibleand interchangeable units for the different columns whereby continuousfractional separation may be effected in a varyin de gree at differentpoints in the line o discharge and oils of different grades may beseparated as desired with the least trouble and expense.` i

To' explain further, it is a well known fact that the various crudemineral cils from the different oil fields contain different grades andquality as Well as quantity of the various oils from that of light in`shown in Fig. 1 by removing four units* from column H and transferringtwo of them to column G and the other two to column I, thereby makingthe condensingV chamber for the kerosene 'smaller-and the othercondensing' chambers for the intermediate oil and naphtha much larger.This arrangement of units will give a high grade of kerosene atvessel has the lighter gravity which is usually classed with a lower firetestkerosene passes on to column I and the heavier portion of the kerosenewhich retards the feed in the wick of a lamp re-` mains behind and iscondensed in column G. Fractional condensation is continuous but theresult is different due to the re-arrangement of units in the line ofdischarge and in respect to the traps and receiving vessels. This isfurther indicated in Fig. 7 where column F has'been reduced to a singleunit, column E to three units, and column G to seven units, therebyprecipitating the heavier portions of the light paraffin oils in withthe heavier parafiin of column E and passing .the lighter portions ofthe paraffin usually taken at column F into column (ir, the product atcolumn F being an intermediate or high grade paraffin or lubricatingoil.

Now it is obvious that a single apparatus comprising the retort and theseparate traps and columns of interchangeable units con' nected inseries in the innumerable combinations made possible by my constructionwill afford a very economical means for fractionalizing the oils fromvarious localities. In other words, Penns lvania, Ohio, Colorado, Texasand California oils can all be handled with equal facility 'and successwith my apser paratus, and any one skilled in the art may vary theseparations of the component parts .5% v Loes-eea ithe constant opencommunication between all the units in each column regardless of thenumber used and also regardless of the num-V ber ofspreader elementsused, and moreover, the line of travel of the vapors through the retortand all the condensers combined 1s vfree and open regardless of aiyinterchange and intermediate interchangeable body sectionscircumferentially opera-internally from the upper edge to the lower edgeand lhaving solid closed sides, means separably uniting saidrsectionsand adapting dii'erent colloca- '1 tions thereof to be made in therespective condensers and thereby increasing `and=decreasing'the length0f condensers relatively to one another according to the fractionaldivisions of the oil desired from each, and pipes connecting the topsection of one condenser with the bottom section of the next succeedingcondenser, in v combination with means 1n advance of the serles ofcondensers to va orize the-oil and force the vapors into4 and t roughall the condensers in the series successively.`

2. vAn apparatus for treating crude petro-A leum oils from different oilfields, the same comprising a plurality of condensers having sectionalbodies open internally about the wall thereof from bottom to top and apipe having thesame-length of sections as said body sections connectingthe top of one condenser with the bottonnof the' next succeed;-

ing condenser and having bottomoutlets 'for the distillatesythe bodiesof the said condensers consisting each of sections of the same size andinterchangeable between condensers and said sections closed about theirsides and separably connected, thus adaptin each condenser to be changedin size by ad ing to `or takin from another condenser a portion or allot the units thereoi:l according to the size and number of condenserswanted whereby any desired fractional separation or; the oils can besecured and any crude hydrocarbon oil treated by said apparatus.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

v CHAUNCEY B. FORWARD. Witnesses:

E. M. FISHER, H. T. FISHER.

